Buddhist monks accused of stirring up anti-Islamic attitudes in Myanmar

And with violence targeting minority Muslims on the rise, some senior members of Myanmar's Buddhist monkhood, the revered Sangha, are counseling their peers to choose their words wisely.

That's because some of the men accused of stirring up anti-Islamic violence hail from their own ranks, presenting a jarring counterpoint to the image normally associated with Myanmar's crimson-robed monks -- meditation, good works and brave resistance to the country's former authoritarian regime.

The religious tensions are complicating Myanmar's still-fragile transition from military rule to democracy, and were high on the agenda as more than 1,500 monks met June 27 at a monastery in Insein township, on the northern outskirts of Rangoon, Myanmar's largest city and commercial center.

Leaders told attendees that "all of the monks in Myanmar must be in harmony and must be patient and must control themselves," the Venerable Pannananda, a Rangoon monk, said outside the meeting.

Yet amid the calls for calm, the monks also discussed a controversial proposal to restrict marriages between Buddhists and Muslims, authored by U Wirathu, a Mandalay-based monk who warns of a rising internal Islamic threat to Myanmar's 89-percent Buddhist majority.

U Wirathu has been a leading advocate of the "969" campaign, which, among other things, urges Buddhists to patronize Buddhist-run shops. The digits relate to Buddha and his teachings, but the campaign plays on longstanding tensions -- often suppressed during the days of military rule -- between Buddhists and Muslims, who make up less than 5 percent of the population according to official statistics.

Outside the meeting, a small group of young men wore red T-shirts featuring U Wirathu's face. His visage also graced the cover of Time magazine's international editions in late June, along with the headline "The Face of Buddhist Terror" -- causing public anger and some sadness in Myanmar. The episode took on a political tone, as the government banned the issue of Time, just months after the official end of state censorship.

In the wake of that episode, even some monks viewed as moderates are rallying to support U Wirathu, who maintains his innocence in the violence. Monks were among the protesters who converged on Sule Pagoda in downtown Rangoon on Sunday to denounce Time.

Myanmar's reformist president, Thein Sein, said in state-run media Tuesday that the Time article, by "depicting a few individuals who are acting contrary to most Myanmar, is creating misconceptions of Buddhism."

Myanmar's monks gained international acclaim for their bravery in 2007 during the so-called Saffron Revolution, sparked by the former military government's decision to allow fuel prices to rise dramatically. The monks' peaceful resistance in the face of a violent government crackdown helped undermine the former junta's grip on power. In this highly traditional Buddhist country, the monkhood permeates everyday life, and most Buddhist men spend at least a short stint as a novice monk during their childhood.

Conspiracy theories abound, and many assume that elements associated with the old regime are whipping up the current violence, exploiting religious divisions to justify a return to military rule.

As deadly incidents have spread from long-volatile Rakhine state to parts of the country where Buddhists and Muslims have lived in relative harmony, some monks have taken part in the riots, according to media reports. But they appear to be a minority. Leaders of a Buddhist monastery, for instance, sheltered more than 1,000 Muslims during a recent riot in Lashio, on the eastern border with China.

And many people here, regardless of their personal prejudices, quietly deplore the violence, which has many local Muslims on edge.

"Extremists usually speak the loudest, partly because they feel very strongly about the issue, and partly because they attract the most public and media attention," noted Ardeth Thawnghmung, a professor and chair of the political science department at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, during a recent visit to her native Myanmar.

Activists earlier this year started an interfaith "Pray for Myanmar" campaign, for example, featuring Buddhist monks, Muslim, Hindu and Christian leaders, though its message lacks the punch of the 969 movement, whose stickers can be seen in shops and on cabs.

The Muslim community in Myanmar has its own divisions, between hardliners and moderates. But Muslims have not enjoyed full citizenship rights since the 1960s, and lingering Buddhist resentment about Indian Muslims who came to Myanmar during British colonial times is common.

U Wirathu's proposed marriage law seeks to prevent Buddhist women from converting to Islam when they marry Muslim men, drawing on concerns about forced conversions.

Ashin Dhammapiya, a senior Myanmar monk who has studied and taught in California, said that many monks oppose the harsher elements of U Wirathu's marriage proposal, including a section that would force non-Buddhist men to convert if they marry a Buddhist women, under threat of a 10-year jail sentence. But, he said, they support the broader concept, in order to "protect the nation."

Thein Sein has not yet taken a public position on the proposal, but opposition leader and possible presidential contender Aung San Suu Kyi has weighed in against it. Suu Kyi has resisted international calls to more strongly condemn recent violence, however, saying she does not want to exacerbate the problem.

Some observers point to a complicated legacy of mistrust in a country that is surrounded by more powerful neighbors, has 135 official ethnic groups, and was held together by force for decades. "There is an insecurity and fear that comes with being Burmese," notes Derek Mitchell, the U.S. ambassador to Myanmar.

U Sona, a monk from Sagain division on the Indian border, says that when "there are more Islamic people in one place they make problems." But he says that "political people" -- not monks -- are the ones causing the violence.

Thein Sein's administration denies any government or military involvement, but has been criticized for not bringing Buddhist perpetrators to justice.

Myo Win, a Muslim who runs an education non-profit in Rangoon, says that the problem is the failure of the formerly autocratic government to stop repeated riots.

"Some Buddhists are saving Muslim people in their homes," he said. "This is a problem with the radicals."